New York Renovator

With hat in hand, I offer my sincerest apologies to those of you who have asked for my Chili recipe and I have neglected to send it to you. I FINALLY posted the recipe on my cooking blog, Wow Chow Cooking. (My daughter made up that name for the cooking blog, isn’t it catchy?!). Sorry it took me sooo long, but I finally took a photo while making it this time, and finally remembered to do it! Enjoy!

(You may notice that the photo watermark has the wrong blog on it. :-p I wasn’t paying attention when I was cropping and editing the photo, as I was also helping one kid with phonics, another with bar graphs, another with Kepler’s laws of motion, and another with laundry at the same time! lol!!)

I am an American. Worse, I am a Northeasterner American. Which means that I CANNOT COOK TASTY RICE. The rice I cook tastes DISGUSTING. I admit it! I have finally faced reality! That, or the family may finally mutiny unless I do. My rice was always too soft, mushy, and bland. I tried Basmati rice for a while, and that turned out nicer (i.e., it was edible), but it took a lot of time to wash, rinse, soak, cook, and wash all the dishes I used. Ugh.

People, I have seen the light.

GET A RICE COOKER.
Oh my word, why did I never get one of these before?!?!? Why have we suffered all these years?!?

I got a Black & Decker Rice Cooker and I urge you to do the same! Seriously, the thing is amazing. I’ve always been a real miser when it comes to buying small appliances. I never got a microwave unti lI was 35, never got an electric can opener until last year, never got a bread machine until a few years ago. Wow, what a difference in my life. Well worth the money. But the rice cooker, which I always thought was a silly fad, an expensive fob for “rich” women, is by FAR my favorite appliance. I use it several times a week, and it always makes the best rice. I am a rice cooker convert!

And they are not expensive, not at all! There’s a sweet Black & Decker rice cooker on sale right now at Buy.com for around $20. And the shipping is FREE! Get one for you, for your daughter, for your friends, for your sisters, for your mailman! The price is so low, and these things are totally cool! Rice is an inexpensive meal, so there are savings on that end, too. I love my rice cooker!! And best of all, ME, the Northeasterner– I can finally make edible, tasty rice!

By the way, while you’re at Buy.com, don’t forget to be a good Frugal Hack and check out their sale page. They have weekly sales and daily sales, stuff for very low prices. Buy.com has “everyday” stuff, too– household supplies, appliance parts, software, cooking tools, bedding, etc. It’s a phenomenal store and I love shopping there and grabbing deals. Check it out! You never know what great stuff you’ll find, and better yet, it’ll be stuff on SALE!

I concocted this Chicken Riggies Recipe after eating it at the Hotel Utica in Utica, NY. Chicken Riggies is a local creation– a very yummy creation– in Utica, NY. “Riggies” is the local slang for rigatoni pasta. Here in Central New York, there are a lot of Italians and, therefore, we have a lot of terrific Italian recipes. I am not Italian, but I grew up in an Italian home in an Italian area of NY. So, I cook a lot of Italian dishes. Here’s one of my recipes. I initially posted this on my New York Traveler blog, where it was Stumbled and was plastered all over the Internet.

As with a lot of Italian dishes, the ingredients are largely “a little this” and “a little that.” That’s how I cook. Chicken Riggies is a chicken and tomato cream sauce with sherry. If you like creamier sauces, add more cream; if you like a spicier dish, add more cherry peppers; etc. This is a great recipe to experiment with, because you can do so much with it. Here’s how I like it (which is: less creamy, more tomato-y, and less saucy).

Chicken Riggies
Feeds an army or 3 to 4 Italians

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 3 or 4 hot cherry peppers (from the jar), seeded and chopped (add less or more if you are a glutton for punishment)
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 2 cans (28 oz. or so) diced tomatoes
• 4 leaves freshly chopped basil, or 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 cup sherry (optional; I always add it)
• 4 to 5 chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces*
• salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup light cream (depending on taste)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese (optional)
• 2 1-lb. boxes of penne rigati or rigatoni

* I usually pre-boil the chicken breasts for about 15 minutes, just as they are turning tender. However, in the summer, I grill a few extra chicken breasts, cube them, and freeze them specifically for this recipe. I simply pull them out when it’s Chicken Riggies time. The grill flavor really comes out for this dish. [...]

Happy New Year!

How’s it working, with you using up all those leftovers from the holiday meals?

Yeah, me neither.

Well, I have some good news for you. I was scouting out deals at local stores (I tend to do my yearly gift-giving shopping after the holdays, when sales are to be had), and found this:

This is THE best casserole recipe book, ever! I just *hate* casseroles. :-p They are usually too heavy, too creamy, and too dry. So I rarely make them. But what else can you do with leftovers?! I found this book, Better Homes & Gardens Biggest Book of Casseroles. It was in the clearance shelf at TJ Maxx (amongst the stale candles, ice cream makers and mini air tools). It was selling for $20 there, originally, but I got it for $5.99! Not even Amazon can top that price!

The recipes are pretty good, and are organized into meatless, potluck, side dish, poultry, bread, dessert, and etc. There are some good tips and resources in the front of the book. Looks like a good one, with over 380 recipes! Not too bad for $6, eh?

I hope you who celebrated Thanksgiving Day yesterday had a wonderful day! My holiday was so relaxing, it was GREAT. The day held quite a few learning experiences for me. Most notable was the one with the baking of the Green Bean casserole (the famous one, on the back of the French’s Fried Onions can). Oh, I’ve made this recipe many times before. I don’t think I’ve ever baked it in a disposable aluminum pan, though. This is where my little learning experience comes in.

Yah.

ALWAYS take off the flimsy plastic cover before baking in the oven at 350 degrees.

Oops. Hehehehe.

The casserole wasn’t ruined, so I served it.

I ignored the children’s protests that it tasted like plastic grocery bags.
(JUST KIDDING!)
(How would they know what grocery bags taste like, anyway?)